From riding high-speed bullet trains to spending time in its family-friendly airports, and trying out unique street foods, it’s no surprise that Japan has a special place in our hearts.
Another Japanese quirk we can’t get enough of?
Japanese Candy.
Japan has produced candy on a large scale since the late 1800’s with the amount produced increasing each year. Today, candy companies in Japan do an excellent job marketing their products, keeping kawaii in mind. The Wikipedia definition of Kawaii is:
Kawaii (かわいい?, [kaw͍aiꜜi], “lovable”, “cute”, or “adorable”) is the quality of cuteness in the context of Japanese culture. It has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.
Inside a Japanese convenience store
That’s exactly what we saw while walking down the aisles of Japanese snack stores – the shelves were filled with quirky packagings covered in bold and colorful animated figures and playful graphics.
How cute is the packaging?
The interiors matched the bold exterior – with candies featuring unusual, sometimes bizarre flavors that we’d never see in America. Think matcha green tea, soy sauce, onion, dried squid, and even jellyfish.
Japanese Toilet Candy: Moko Moko Mokolet
While I stocked up on a variety of Kit Kats – there are probably over 100 flavors in Japan alone – the kids opted for a DIY candy set – the Moko Moko Mokolet, a Japanese Toilet Candy.
Yeah, you read that right. The Moko Moko Mokolet, Japanese Toilet Candy is a mini toilet which you can make and then drink out of!
The set consists of a toilet bowl, colorful stickers to decorate said toilet, three powder sachet flavors (strawberry, cola, and melon) that you add into the bowl, and fill with water. It even comes with a straw for you to drink out of the toilet bowl with!
If you love snacks of the sweet variety, a visit to Tokyo isn’t complete without heading to a store like Machioka, which specializes in Japanese snacks sold at wholesale prices and quantities. While you can find Japanese candy sold at any convenience store, we found ourselves in candy heaven every time we walked into a Machioka! There’s another snack shop called Niki no Kashi, located on Ameyoko shopping street that’s also worth checking out.
Japan has proved to be the land of weird and wonderful, a country the kids absolutely enjoy visiting. What’s the weirdest Japanese candy you’ve every tried? Let us know in the comments below!
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